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| June 27, 2007 |
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Text of Advisory Committee's Report to IRS on Improving Compliance for M&P, Volume Submitter Plans (PDF)
69 pages; presented to the IRS on June 13, 2007. Includes result of a survey of practitioners sponsored by BenefitsLink; to each of the 110 respondents, THANK YOU! Excerpt: "Currently, the IRS estimates that at least 94% of all qualified retirement plans are Master and Prototype plans and Volume Submitter plans. . . . [The committee's recommendations] include, among others, the distribution of a form which advises adopting employers of the responsibilities associated with these plans and includes a list of the parties responsible for performing various administrative functions on behalf of the plan; and the provision of additional education, outreach and guidance to these employers regarding the compliance requirements for these plans." (IRS Advisory Committee on Tax Exempt and Government Entities)
Text: Disaster Relief Announcement 07-09 Relating to PBGC Deadlines, Updated June 22, 2007
Excerpt: "The IRS updated the relief described below to add six counties in Maine (Cumberland, Knox, Lincoln, Oxford, Sagadahoc, and York), seven counties in Connecticut (Hartford, Fairfield, Litchfield, Middlesex, New Haven, New London, and Windham), as well as additional counties in New York, New Jersey, and New Hampshire." (Pension Benefit Guaranty Corporation)
Opinion: Role of 401(k) Plans - How These Plans Must Change in Order to Become True Retirement Plans
Excerpt: "A critical element in this transformation is the recognition that certain key features of 401(k) plans -- most significantly, participant choice of investments from a broad list of fund/risk-return options and the daily fund valuation required to support those choices - in fact have a very narrow appeal." (PLANSPONSOR.com; free registration required)
Target-Date/Risk-Based Investment Fund Guide
Excerpt: "It turns out that these are pretty complicated investments to gauge. Yet, plan sponsors are trained to focus on the bottom-line simplicity that, on a relative basis, an investment should outpace a specific benchmark, says Amy Heyel, New York-based Senior Consultant at Segal Advisors. 'Sponsors are going to focus on the wrong thing if they constantly focus on that with lifecycle funds. You are setting yourself up for failure.'" (PLANSPONSOR.com; free registration required)
Chart of Defined Contribution Plan Amendments - From the TRA '86 Document to the GUST Document
As of June 22, 2007 (McKay Hochman Co., Inc.)
Defined Contribution Plan Amendment Chart - From the GUST Document to Before PPA
As of April 13, 2007 (McKay Hochman Co., Inc.)
Overview of the Status of Default Investment Regulations
Excerpt: "Even though there is a delay in the issuance of the final regulation, there is no need for plan sponsors to wait. We are confident that the three non-controversial categories -- age-based funds, risk-based funds, and managed accounts -- -are virtually certain to be included in the 'pre-approved' category." (Reish Luftman Reicher & Cohen)
Maintaining Confidentiality: Publicly-Traded Company Stock in 401(k) Plans
Excerpt: "Most plan sponsors understand the benefit of complying with section 404(c) of ERISA -- -relief from liability for participant investment decisions. However, few plan sponsors comply with the requirements to obtain that relief." (Reish Luftman Reicher & Cohen)
Overview: IRS Announces Universal Availability Project with Focus on School District 403(b) Plans
Excerpt: "The project is slated to last through 2008. Commenting on the expansion of the compliance project, the Director of the IRS Employee Plans division indicated that the data collected so far has revealed 'fairly widespread noncompliance by schools with the universal availability requirement for 403(b) plans.'" (Reish Luftman Reicher & Cohen)
Overview: IRS Proposed Mortality Tables for Pension Plan Minimum Funding Purposes Under PPA
Excerpt: "The IRS is requesting comments on the proposed regulations, and on how these tables should be adjusted to determine lump sum benefits under section 417(e)(3). Comments are due August 27, 2007." (Watson Wyatt Worldwide)
Overview: PBGC Proposed Changes to Variable-Rate Premium Calculations
Excerpt: "The Pension Benefit Guaranty Corporation (PBGC) recently proposed changing the calculations that determine variable-rate premiums under the Pension Protection Act of 2006 (PPA). The proposed changes would take effect for 2008 premium payment years." (Watson Wyatt Worldwide)
Worker Ownership Is a Growing Phenomenon, But Experts Are Divided As to Its Inherent Rewards
Excerpt: "Employee ownership and its newly coined cousin 'shared capitalism' might sound like concepts straight out of the Communist Manifesto, but they've built a largely unnoticed niche in the U.S. economy." (Federal Reserve Bank of Minneapolis)
Is an Annual Review of Plan Expenses Required?
Excerpt: "[T]here is no explicit requirement in ERISA that fiduciaries review costs and revenue sharing on any specific time frame. Instead, the general requirement is that the plan operations be reviewed as frequently as is needed for the specific issue." (Reish Luftman Reicher & Cohen)
Companies Seek More Consistency in Global Pension Investments
Excerpt: "Many multinational companies are reexamining global investment policies and risk management strategies related to their retirement plans, a new study has found. In addition, many firms find governance of global pension systems to be a challenge given the differences in regulations around the world." (Watson Wyatt Worldwide)
Comment: How the IRS Learns About the Turnover Rate for Qualified Retirement Plans
Excerpt: "How does the IRS learn of the turnover rate? There are at least two ways -- Form 5310 and Form 5500." (Suzanne L. Wynn, Esq.)
Overview: IRS Challenge to 'Greater of' Cash Balance Transitions
Excerpt: "In a greater-of transition, participants receive benefits under the previous plan formula or under the cash balance formula, whichever gives them the bigger benefit. This is good for participants, but the IRS is claiming that these greater-of transitions violate the accrual rules that govern all pension plans." (Watson Wyatt Worldwide)
Compensation and Benefits Report: No ERISA Violation for 'Revenue Sharing,' Court Rules
Excerpt: "The thrust of the lawsuits is that revenue sharing results in the payment of excessive and undisclosed fees, both of which are alleged to violate ERISA." (Thelen Reid Brown Raysman & Steiner LLP)
California Public Pension Initiative Planned
Excerpt: "Hoping to eliminate the need for hundreds of billions of dollars in new taxes to bail out state pensions and health care benefits, former Assemblyman Keith Richman will ask voters to raise retirement ages for teachers, police officers, firefighters and other public employees." (DailyNews.com)
Opinion: Social Security Reform Cooling
Excerpt: "Strengthening Social Security demands the clichéd tough political choices. The challenge is as real in 2007 as it was in 2000. Isn't this exactly the sort of issue that American voters need to test candidates with, as they determine who will become the next president?" (The Century Foundation)
Opinion: Half-Baked Investment Concepts for Retirees (PDF)
5 pages. Excerpt: "Are we trying to help retirees make wise financial decisions, or are we trying to save the future of equity funds? If retirees follow the advice many investment professionals are giving them today, the markets will prosper, but the retirees probably will not." (Still River Retirement Planning Software, Inc.)
More Companies Trimming Some Financial Benefits, Like Pension Plans, Survey Shows
Excerpt: "The Society for Human Resource Management's 2007 benefits survey showed that just 40% of the 590 U.S. companies surveyed provided a traditional defined-benefit pension plan this year, down from 48% in 2006." (Financial Week)
Links to Items on Executive Comp, Benefits in General
GAO Presentation: The Challenges and Opportunities of Demographic Change in America (PDF)
35 slides. Presentation by the Comptroller General David M. Walker before the Center for Productive Longevity's National Conference on the New Human Resources Frontier: Utilizing Older Workers for Competitive Advantage, in Washington, D.C., June 7, 2007. (U.S. Government Accountability Office)
Congress Says NFL Should Improve Benefits
Excerpt: "Aging NFL retirees told Congress Tuesday that playing professional football left them with broken bodies, brain damage and empty bank accounts. Lawmakers said they may get involved if a better pension and disability system isn't created." (The Washington Post; free registration required)
CFO Compensation Excluded from $1 Million Deduction Limit, but for How Long? (PDF)
2 pages. Excerpt: "On June 4, 2007, the IRS issued Notice 2007-49, which changes the group of executive officers who are considered covered employees for purposes of Section 162(m) of the Internal Revenue Code. Attorneys Cooley Godward Kornish ask 'for how long?' since Congress is considering a number of legislative proposals regarding Section 162(m). As such, Congress may decide to amend the ruling." (Cooley Godward Kornish LLP)
Court Rules Administrative Remedies Exhaustion Requirement Does Not Apply to Fiduciary Breach Claims
Excerpt: "United States District Court Judge Lawrence M. McKenna handed down another ruling in the American Medical Ass'n v. United HealthCare Corp litigation, granting in part and denying in part the defendants' motion for summary judgment on several issues including standing and exhaustion of administrative remedies." (Health Plan Law blog by Attorney Roy F. Harmon III)
Newly Posted Events
Documented Confusion II: The IRS Rewrites 6-Year Cycle Rules
Nationwide on July 17, 2007
presented by SunGard Relius
Newly Posted Press Releases
Companies Aim To Transform HR Delivery Strategy To Meet New Employee Needs, Watson Wyatt Study Finds
Watson Wyatt
Poll Finds Most Mass. Residents Support New Health Reform Law, Including Individual Mandate, As Initial Deadline Nears
Kaiser Family Foundation
Family Caregiving Valued at $350 Billion
AARP
Old Mutual Capital Added to CPI Retirement Platform
CPI Qualified Plan Consultants, Inc.
National Committee For Quality Assurance and Pfizer Inc. Publish Strategies To Promote Health and Wellness
National Committee for Quality Assurance (NCQA)
7 Steps for Complying With Deferred Compensation Plan Rules
Grant Thornton LLP
New Integrated Benefits Institute Report Finds Pharmaceutical Cost Shifting Leads to Increased Disability and Lost Productivity
Integrated Benefits Institute
Uncorrected Vision Problems Cost Employers Billions
Vision Council of America
Newly Posted or Renewed Job Openings
(Post a Job | View All Jobs)
Defined Benefit Software Customer Support
for DATAIR Employee Benefit Systems, Inc.
in IL
Defined Contribution Software Customer Support
for DATAIR Employee Benefit Systems, Inc.
in IL
Pension Administrator
for The Pension Company
in FL
Senior Contracts Analyst (Multiple Openings)
for Fidelity Investments
in TX
ERISA Consultant II
for BISYS Retirement Services
in MN
Account Service Representative
for Pension Specialists, Inc.
in CA
Relationship Manager
for New York Life Retirement Plans Services
in MA
Client Acceptance Manager -Health & Welfare
for Hewitt Associates
in TX
Retirement Plan Administrator
for DML Benefits, LLC
in GA
Retirement Plan Analyst
for Benefit Strategies, LLC
in ME
Manager
for 1199SEIU Benefit and Pension Funds
in NY
Senior Section 125 Compliance Analyst
for Administaff
in TX
Supervisory Health Insurance Specialist
for Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services
in MD
Health & Welfare Benefits Administrator
for Phillips- Van Heusen Corp.
in NJ
Account Executive-Retirement Service
for The Principal Financial Group
in NY
Defined Contribution Administration, Second Vice President
for New York Life Retirement Plan Services
in MA
Handy Links:
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